How do you feel about contributing to professional networking sites (LinkedIn, Rallypoint, etc.) during duty hours?

SSG James Behnke — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 00:35:04 -0400

Could this be considered Professional Development, or is it something that should be reserved for your personal time?

Share your thoughts below.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2017 12:35 AM

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 00:35:22 -0400

Contributing to these sites during duty hours can be professional development and are a good resource to get answers to military related questions. I do not think it should be purely reserved for your personal time but when a co-worker spends too much time on these sites and it detracts from the accomplishment of the mission or other office related tasks then it is a problem. Leaders should police up their subordinates and peers should let each other know when they have a problem.

Response by SSG James Behnke made Oct 26 at 2017 12:46 AM

SSG James Behnke — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 00:46:19 -0400

I believe these types of sites are a valuable resource, when used properly. They can quickly turn into "Military Facebook", however, with little to no value depending on how they are utilized. If daily tasks and/or mission essential tasks are suffering because someone is chasing "Influence Points", then there is a problem.

The most important influence will always be the one you have on your own organization.

Response by Sharon Lee made Oct 26 at 2017 1:02 AM

Sharon Lee — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 01:02:42 -0400

I would say personal time since you probably can't interact with someone immediately. However, if a company is going live and you actively participate and interact with the company, that should be professional development.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Oct 26 at 2017 1:08 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 01:08:20 -0400

Honestly I've never seen an issue using professional networking sites during duty hours because as a service member, you represent your organization 24/7, not just when you're "on the clock". That's why maintaining a degree of professionalism is paramount. Next, we live in a global organization with members asking for advice or help in every timezone. It'd be unreasonable to wait until your "free time" to help someone who could genuinely need assistance.

As long as you are aware that Mission always comes first, there is no harm in trying to assist in the development of others.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2017 1:18 AM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 01:18:50 -0400

SSG James Behnke RallyPoint and LinkedIn are great sites but should be utilized during off hours. Military work hours as in the civilian world should be reserved for work related tasks. Most worksites have policies on internet use during working hours. During my civilian career, we had many people fired for using the internet improperly during work hours. Using these sites is for networking purposes, and not what I would consider as professional development.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2017 1:47 AM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 01:47:56 -0400

Mission first, Rallypoint always.

Response by SGT David T. made Oct 26 at 2017 7:41 AM

SGT David T. — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 07:41:06 -0400

I've seen Soldiers waste more time for worse things so I really don't see an issue with it. If they are in hurry up and wait mode, what's the harm?

Response by SPC Wanda Vergara-Yates made Oct 26 at 2017 8:11 AM

SPC Wanda Vergara-Yates — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 08:11:15 -0400

If the contribution relates to the person's job, do it on company time. If it relates to one's person, do it on personal time. Except for rare exceptions, that has always been my rule, and the rare exception needs a very good reason and explanation to go with it.

Response by Lt Col John Eliopolo Cpc, Eli Mp made Oct 26 at 2017 8:18 AM

Lt Col John Eliopolo Cpc, Eli Mp — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 08:18:20 -0400

Mixed feelings about this. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram during duty hours are typically being used by military members to express their 'social self;' so I see little 'professional development' involved in those sites. LinkedIn and RallyPoint can be viewed as 'professional development' in the sense that it is broadening the military member's understanding of what's happening out there in the civilian work world (LinkedIn), and the what is on the minds of other service members (RallyPoint). In that sense, I believe the military member is 'professionally developing' by increasing his/her awareness of the broader work world (LI), and the service member mindset (RP). It's really a form of awareness training, and I think that is a pretty good thing overall--increased ''environmental' awareness, never a bad thing.

Response by SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA made Oct 26 at 2017 8:18 AM

SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 08:18:58 -0400

It's certainly far more appropriate than the phone games and Facebook that I usually see soldiers wasting time on at work.

Response by Sgt Wayne Wood made Oct 26 at 2017 9:58 AM

Sgt Wayne Wood — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 09:58:21 -0400

If this is “Professional Development” then so is twitter.

The President does it.

I don’t see any value to LinkedIn at all. It would appear some former students opened an account in my name as a prank & i can’t get it deleted because i don’t have the password. I’d not mind except for all the emails from pathetic souls trying to “friend” or “connect” or “network” or whatever. Thank God for email filters

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 26 at 2017 4:49 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 16:49:31 -0400

In regards to Rallypoint, as long as soldiers are participating in discussions relevant to the military and can gain some professional growth out of it. There are plenty of threads on here that should not be on the site in my opinion. I personally stay on here and look at questions and chime in on areas that I am more familiar with to better my professional growth.

For Linkdln, I would say that whether you are staying in or getting out of the military, you should build a profile. I say this because it makes you more marketable and you are able to network with more people for when those situations come up. Even if you decide to stay in I think it is good pracice to teach young soldiers how to build a resume and enhance their profile.

Anything else I would say no in the workplace. That doesnt mean that there isnt something out there that a soldier can present to me that would be beneficial to the section/team.

As always the mission comes first, and we can always find something for our soldeirs to professionally grow. I would make sure they have done their SSD, corresspondence courses, online training, and anything else prior to usign social media as a professional development tool.

It might be good to present this during a STT periodically assuming your network allows access to the sites.

Response by CW5 Jack Cardwell made Nov 12 at 2017 9:16 AM

CW5 Jack Cardwell — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 09:16:12 -0500

The DOD has an official site for "Networking" during duty hours

It is called MilSuite. With in it is MilBook with military related topics. Like any social media it can be misused. CAC log in required. Stay away from other social media sites during duty hours

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MilSuite

milSuite - Wikipedia

milSuite is a collection of online applications focused on improving the methods of secure collaboration for the United States Department of Defense. The effort is produced by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical's MilTech Solutions office with the online suite consisting of four applications: milBook, milWiki, milWire and milTube.[1]